Now a staple in most shore towns, the first boardwalk in New Jersey was built in Atlantic City in 1870.

The boardwalk — which is actually a street — was built by train conductor Alexander Boardman and hotel owner Jacob Keim.

“Both men wanted to reduce the amount of beach sand that their businesses had to contend with,” said historian Lee Ireland, author of “Place Names of the Jersey Shore.” “In 1870, they constructed a walkway made up of sections that could be removed in the winter.”

By 1896, the walkway had been made permanent and was officially designated as the “Boardwalk,” according to Ireland.

However, according to authors Dick Handschuch and Sal Marino who wrote “The Beach Bum’s Guide to the Boardwalks of New Jersey,” Cape May was the first Jersey Shore town to lay boards on the sand in 1868 and Atlantic City was the first to raise the wooden walkway.